Scott's First Easter With Brooke's Family

I've been working on the bathroom with a neighborhood friend and finally have all the paneling. I had to take a few pictures to share with Mr. Mike. The tiles around the bathtub are going to be replaced with subway tile. I think it's going to look great.

After I snapped a few photos of the bathroom we were off. I had just caught a stomach virus that Meadow had earlier in the week. My first Easter wasn't going to be fun.

I thought I would get a photo of all of us in the car since I hadn't done that in awhile. Right as I was taking this photo Scott started veering off the road, hence my face. Oh and Blake and Meadow are back there somewhere.

She distracted me. What else can I say?

With Blake riding with us we packed as much as stuff as we could for the rummage sale.

We were able to bring nearly everything with some creative packing.

There wasn't much food at my parents for dinner so my dad suggested we go out for Friday Fish Fry. We went to two different churches in hope of getting their Lent dinners, but seeing as it Good Friday they don't offer it.

I was a little disappointed. I used to go fish fries all the time growing up back in Milwaukee.

We settled on Verbeten's in Kaukauna instead. I had no idea this place even existed.

Meadow decided to sit away from us. Well, actually we weren't sure if they had a high chair. She sat there until the waitress brought us one.

Fish and fries were dang good.

Even if we had to wait an hour for it.

We need to go bowling here some other time.

The next morning my dad made Meadow a bunny pancake.

My stomach had progressively gotten worse. I could hardly stomach a pancake.

My dad said he found a box that looked like it was mine. I'm not sure I will need that AOL Titanium trial anymore.

Today was supposed to be the nicest day while we were here and our other friends were busy or also sick. So it was just Meadow, Blake and I.

I asked Chelsea what there is to do in the area that's cheap or free. She said, "Go outside!" We decided to go to a couple of parks. We first tried Fritse Park in Menasha.

Meadow has a new love for slides. She was too little for them last year.

Blake had fun too.

The reason I picked this park was because of this slide. I should have gotten a photo from above because it was actually pretty steep. I would have been afraid of it as a kid. Meadow enjoyed it and wanted to go again and again.

The park had also converted an old rail bridge into a pedestrian bridge. We thought we would cross it to see where it goes. We have never had a stroller for Meadow, unless you count our bike trailer. I guess we have never really needed one.

Now that Meadow can walk on her own we usually let her go and she enjoys it. She also enjoys wagon rides, but not having a stroller has always worked for our family.

Our next destination was Riverside Park in Neenah. I purposely picked this place because I remember the homes nearby where comparable to what you would see on Summit Avenue. Blake and I were gawking too much that we had to pull over and go for a walk instead.

 I later looked up information online about the homes' history and couldn't find much. I think Blake and I are going to have to make a book.

Meadow had to stop to dance on the manhole.

Later she fell asleep in the car, she was worn out from all the walking. I took a scenic way home as I figured this would be her only nap.

I guess Blake and I were worn out too.

I was happy to have everybody back even if I still felt horrendous.

While I worked on making the rolls for Easter Dinner, my dad took Meadow to see my Grandma. She returned home with a cup full of Cheerios.

I'm used to Scott always taking photos so I don't always remember when he's not around.

When I found out that they were having sloppy tacos I decided to take a nap.

With him being sick I didn't remember dinner until Meadow was the last one eating. And we had tacos for dinner not sloppy joes. Actually it was this night that Meadow learned to say "taco".

The next morning Blake woke up sick, so it was just me, my dad and Meadow at church. Our church has gotten a lot smaller compared to when I was a kid. They no longer have a nursery and I was worried Meadow wouldn't sit still during service. Luckily they have an area near the front with little tables for the kids to color. Meadow was mostly distracted by the people and started to get antsy near the end. She also dumped out a basket of crayons. Whenever Meadow throws or knocks down something, everything has to go with it. She threw all the crayons sitting on the table to go with the pile on the floor.

Nolan was sick with croup, so he stayed with Dan's family. Brittany didn't bring Marina because she was afraid of the germs. Poor Meadow didn't have her cousins to play with.

I actually felt much better and thought that my illness had passed. I was just happy to be with family.

After being together nine years, this was, believe it or not, Scott's first Easter with my family.  I also hadn't been home for Easter since like 2008.

We tend to go home or to the cottage for the winter and summer holidays.

G.G. was happy to see little Meadow. She sees her other grandchildren regularly.

Meadow was supposed to be taking a nap, but our loud chatter kept her awake. I put her back to bed when it was time to eat dinner.

I'm always surrounded by a lot of food at Romenesko holidays. We have an array of snacks and appetizers before the big meal, which is always potluck style.

G.G. insisted on wine with dinner. Chelsea's wine opener was broken. Dan decided to improvise with a screw and a hammer. It did the job.

Considering how few people there were Easter it wasn't that bad.

Well, except that my stomach bug came back around here.

Meadow actually napped while we ate. I didn't want her to miss everything so I woke her up. She wasn't too happy about that. She was in a sour mood until Chelsea showed her she had Easter eggs to find.

Chelsea did a good job with the Easter eggs. Instead of candy Meadow got a tattoo, fruit snacks, hair clips, socks and a $2 bill.

Meadow also got to do an egg hunt at church. During the sermon kids get to leave for a special activity. First the kids were told a story and then they got to do the egg hunt. Meadow didn't want to wait for the story. I had to hold her back kicking and screaming. Once it was time to look all the big kids grabbed the easy ones. I had to find all the hard ones for her. She ended up with a lot of candy or should I say Scott and I did.

The next morning we had to head back to Minneapolis, but first we wanted to stop by Mr. Mike's store. It turns out that Menards was as cheap as his wholesale price.

We didn't find anything, but Mr. Mike gave me some waterproofing paint for behind the subway tiles. What a good guy!

It's always been an idea in my head to photograph one room schoolhouses. We pass so many of them on our multiple routes in Wisconsin. Some of them are now residential homes. I think if I lived someplace rural it would have to be in an old schoolhouse. This one is actually a museum. I was excited to see it, but I guess it's only open on weekends in the summer.

Somehow I ended up taking the picture.

When we got home Peanut was hungry, Blake had left his car keys in Little Chute and we left our Ergo. Whoops.

The next day Meadow got to look for her Easter basket. She doesn't quite get the concept yet. I had to nudge her in the right direction.

This year Meadow got a kite, a book and two smoothie packets. 

Blake stayed a few more days until his keys arrived in the mail. I made him help me remove the stove. I'll miss this beauty, but when we do sell down the road it'll be nice to have all matching appliances. 

R.I.P. harvest gold kitchen.